if we inspire you at all based on this program, direct it to a woman in your own community that has cancer. >> i like that message. the fire trucks are at pier 22 until tomorrow. nbc nightly news is next. and, oprah's farewell. after 25 years, why saying good-bye is so hard for millions of americans. it's about a lot more than television. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening. we begin with a developing story out of minnesota where severe storms and at least three tornadoes have swept through sections of minneapolis. early pictures from there show extensive damage in residential areas in north minneapolis and thousands are said to be without power. by late afternoon our colleagues at the weather channel had tallied at least 17 tornadoes across sections of minnesota, iowa and missouri. on what has been an especially dangerous and volatile weekend throughout the country's midsection. right now severe weather watches and warnings cover a 1,000-mile stretch from dallas north to the twin cities. nbc's janet shamlian leads off our coverage with this report. >> reporter: a first look at the devastation from above after at least four suspected tornado touchdowns in and around minneapolis. >> everybody okay? >> everybody okay? >> reporter: shocked neighbors getting their first look at the damage. >> then it got real dark. the power started going in and

out. and we just made a run for it. >> reporter: like this home ripped apart at the seams. debris everywhere. and tonight, thousands are without power. i mean, windows were flying, glass was flying everywhere. we just barely got out of there. >> reporter: it comes one day after a similar siege in kansas. ominous clouds and piercing sirens warned of trouble. but even for a state in tornado alley's path, this was a hard hit. the tiny town of redding, kansas, population just over 200, was the bull's eye for a powerful twister saturday night. an ef-3 with winds of up to 165 miles an hour. 20 homes were flattened. many more were damaged. and the community is littered with the evidence. one man died in the storm. the governor has declared a state of emergency for 16 counties. it had been one of the lightest tornado seasons in decades for kansas. this was the first tornado in may. >> everything's come together for an outbreak of severe weather. a strong low has come off the rocky mountains, and that's forced into some moisture in

from the gulf of mexico. the two together are a recipe for disaster. >> reporter: bettes and a team from the weather channel were out in the path of a missouri storm this weekend. as a twister formed right in front of them. >> there's a funnel! >> there's a funnel up top there. you can see it very well defined up there. >> reporter: the twisters cut a wide path. this one spotted in oklahoma. >> it's coming! the power lines right here! >> reporter: in nebraska, the unmistakable sound of hail. residents say it looked like golf balls were being dumped from the sky. this wild weather comes on the heels of a violent and deadly late april outbreak. the largest in u.s. history. twisters across 21 states, claiming more than 300 lives. and the weather story continues here in louisiana. the rain from that system that brought tornadoes will flow into the mississippi, adding to the floodwaters and the concern for so many people in this area. lester? >> janet shamlian, thanks. weather channel's paul goodloe

is in atlanta. paul, what should we be watching tonight? >> we're looking for more severe weather across a good chunk of the midwest and also pushing into the ohio valley. you can take a look at this map. we have right now 11 watches, ie tornado or severe thunderstorm watches, encompassing 18 states across the country. they go through 11:00 p.m. central daylight time tonight. you can see a huge chunk of real estate stretching from texas where you need that rain all the way up through st. louis, chicago and even up towards the u.p. of michigan. stretching eastward towards lexington and chattanooga and maybe even atlanta could see severe weather as well as we head overnight. and we're not done. turn the page on towards your monday. once again towards the afternoon, the evening hours we see severe weather explode again stretching from central texas all the way through the southern plains, back into the midwest and the ohio valley. even as far east as pittsburgh could see more severe weather as we head on towards monday, including the risk of more tornadoes. not to mention heavy rain and flash flooding a huge concern. lester? >> all right, paul, thank you. overseas, a lot of people

are keeping a sharp eye on what's going on in iceland where the country's most active volcano has been erupting since last night. already there are worries of another air travel nightmare like the one last year when another volcano erupted. transatlantic planes including president obama's flight to ireland tonight on "air force one" are being instructed to steer clear of iceland. we get the latest tonight from nbc's tazin ahmed. >> reporter: plumes of smoke shot 12 miles into the sky. a large bubbling mass of ashy clouds. iceland's most active volcano, grimsvotn, caught everyone off guard with the size of its eruption late on saturday. it erupts frequently, but never so intensely. the main airport shut down. every flight was canceled. other airports may follow suit. >> it still remains to be seen how long the ash is going to persist in the atmosphere and what the long-term effects on air traffic will be.

>> reporter: on the ground, the heavy fall of ash turned day into night. with the volcano still erupting, it was hard to see road markings. farmers worked through the night to save their livestock. anxious, but determined. we have to deal with it, says this farmer. the big worry is there will be a repeat of scenes from last year when another of iceland's volcanos erupted, causing chaos around the world. european air space was closed down. 10 million travelers caught up in the disruption. >> that was an unusual volcano. and an unusual ash size distribution. and an unusual weather pattern which all conspired together to make life difficult in europe. >> reporter: iceland's police are on the streets urging people to stay indoors. authorities are monitoring the situation closely. there are fears that ash could reach europe by tuesday. if the volcano continues to erupt. that, and weather conditions

just like last year, would put european air space as risk. tazin ahmed, nbc news, london. president obama had much more to say today about the middle east peace process. this time before aipac, this country's most important pro-israel lobbying group. nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house tonight to tell us more. mike? >> reporter: good evening, lester. coming on the heels of his oval office clash with the israeli prime minister, today the president walked into what one expert described as a lion's den. once again the volatile issue of israel's borders was front and center. in a speech before some 11,000 of israel's strongest american supporters, president obama did not back away from his controversial remarks that palestinian statehood should be based on israel's pre-1967 borders. >> what i did on thursday was to say publicly what has long been acknowledged privately. >> reporter: mr. obama said his stance on israel's borders had been misrepresented. but it was an infuriated

benjamin netanyahu himself, face to face with the president friday, who was among the strongest critics. >> while israel is prepared to make generous compromises for peace, it cannot go back to the 1967 lines. because these lines are indefensible. >> reporter: today the president stressed he doesn't want to go back either. instead, he favors using those pre-'67 war boundaries as the basis for borders between israel and its neighbors. not as the final map. that would be determined by mutually agreed upon land swaps. >> it means that the parties themselves, israelis and palestinians, will negotiate a border that is different than the one that existed on june 4th, 1967. >> reporter: the president warned that changes sweeping the middle east coupled with growing international impatience with the arab/israeli conflict mean the peace process must quickly get back on track. >> the ultimate goal is two states for two people. >> reporter: the president's remarks were well received.

>> i think he hit it out of the park. no question. in his somber and serious way, he made a case to a potentially very hostile audience. >> reporter: but some remain critical of mr. obama's stance. >> why now? why did he choose this moment to sort of stoke controversy by wading into some of these quote, unquote, core issues of the israeli/palestinian conflict? >> reporter: lester, later this afternoon after the speech prime minister netanyahu released a statement saying he is determined to work with president obama to resume the peace talks. meanwhile, prime minister netanyahu speaks at that same pro-israel lobby tomorrow and on tuesday it's a speech to a joint meeting of congress. lester? >> mike viqueira, thanks. as we mentioned, the president is on his way to europe tonight where this story will clearly be following him. nbc's chief white house correspondent chuck todd is in dublin tonight. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. it will be following him. it's a six-day, four-country trip.

the first couple of days, a bit ceremonial here. he'll go to his hometown in ireland where there's a great great great grandfather of president obama's. he will visit that little town. he'll hit london for a buckingham palace meeting with the queen. but it's a g-8 meeting in france where this issue of the middle east and how much support the president gets for his vision on the road map for the peace process. the white house aides tell me that if they can get a good endorsement of this plan, that would mean this trip was worthwhile. >> chuck, i suspect the president will be keeping an eye on domestic politics here at home. indiana governor mitch daniels the latest republican joining mike huckabee, hayley barbour saying no thanks to a run for the white house. where does that leave the republican party establishment as they seek someone to go up against president obama? >> reporter: well, lester, i've done a ton of reporting about this this afternoon, actually. even being here in dublin. i can tell you this. the majority of the bush fundraising machine is still sitting on the sidelines. these were the folks that were

going to get behind mitch daniels. a lot of them will probably stay on the sidelines, at least for the summer. think of this summer as a summer of speculation. we're going to hear a lot about new york governor chris christy. we'll hear more about paul ryan, the wisconsin republican congressman who didn't quite slam the door shut on "meet the press" today about running for president. maybe even a jeb bush rumor. but at the end of the day, this could be very helpful to tim pawlenty, former minnesota governor. he officially launches his bid tomorrow. he's hoping to grab some of those donors, lester. >> chuck todd in ireland tonight, chuck, thanks. police in los angeles arrested a suspect today in the brutal beating of a san francisco giants' fan outside of l.a.'s dodgers stadium. the case prompted outrage in the sports world and an outpouring of support for the victim. nbc's george lewis has more tonight. >> reporter: it was early this morning when a s.w.a.t. team stormed this apartment building >> the los angeles police department has arrested a

suspect in the senseless and brutal attack that occurred here at dodgers stadium on opening day. >> but officials haven't yet identified the suspect. >> there are at least two outstanding suspects that we are actively searching for. because of that, i am not going to give you some information that you want. i'm not going to give you the name. >> the victim, paramedic brian stow, a father of two, is a giants fan and was wearing his team's jersey at the dodgers' home opener against the giants back in march when he was jumped by a pair of angry l.a. fans. delores donnelly witnessed the beating. >> i heard someone yell some cuss words in the van. then we seen brian on the ground. >> reporter: beaten so badly that he remains in a coma in a san francisco hospital. >> it's going to be a long road to recovery. we're looking at over a year of rehab. >> reporter: today, there was this reaction to the arrest from the giants' manager. >> it's great news. hopefully they'll catch

everybody who was involved in this senseless act. >> reporter: the l.a. police had promised an immediate crackdown. heavier security at dodgers stadium and an all-out hunt for those involved in the beating. based on eyewitness descriptions, the police sketches of the suspects went up on 300 billboards all over los angeles. all of that led to the police bust today. now, many baseball fans are hoping that will send a strong message to stadium hooligans. >> it is america's favorite pastime. that stuff doesn't need to happen. >> reporter: the fans, major league baseball and the police all agree. the violence has to end. george lewis, nbc news, los angeles. when "nbc nightly news" continues on this sunday evening, news about the suspect in the arizona shooting rampage that wounded congresswoman gabby giffords. is it possible he won't stand trial? and after a quarter century on the air, oprah is about to sign off. and a lot of people are finding it hard to say good-bye.

at a federal court in tucson, arizona, a hearing is scheduled on wednesday for jared loughner on whether the suspect in the shooting of congresswoman gabrielle giffords and 18 others is mentally competent to stand trial. we get the story from nbc's justice correspondent, pete williams. >> reporter: it could be the single most important court hearing for jared loughner, accused of killing six people and wounding 13 others in a tucson parking lot in january at a meet and greet event hosted by congresswoman gabrielle giffords. loughner's own lawyers have

described him as, quote, gravely mentally ill. now after five weeks of psychiatric evaluation at a federal prison hospital in missouri, court documents suggest that doctors appointed by both loughner's lawyers and the prosecutors have concluded that he's mentally unfit to stand trial. if the judge agrees, the court proceedings against him would stop without a trial. >> the defendant can't be railroaded. the defendant has to participate in the proceedings. if as a result of a mental disease or defect he's not able to do that, then the proceedings cannot continue. >> reporter: if loughner is declared mentally unfit to stand trial, he'd be sent to a prison hospital for treatment. if he later improved, he could be brought back to court and put on trial. but if he didn't get better, he'd stay in the prison hospital. he would not be released. it's happened before. russell westin is still in a prison hospital today. never put on trial for running into the u.s. capitol building 13 years ago and killing two policemen. his attack prompted congress to

build a $600 million visitors center where tourists are screened through metal detectors. a declaration of mentally unfit for trial is different from not guilty by reason of insanity. that's a verdict that follows a trial as in the case of john hinckley jr. who shot president reagan. but a finding that jared loughner is mentally unfit would mean no trial in tucson for now and, perhaps, forever. pete williams, nbc news, washington. up next, it could be a summer blockbuster. but tonight there is a big legal headache for "the hangover."

now, here's a question. what do you get when you cross a big hollywood movie, a tattoo artist and mike tyson's face? well, for one thing, a lawsuit. nbc's kerry sanders explains. >> reporter: mike tyson, the one-time heavyweight champ of the world perhaps is well known these days as the guy with that tattoo on his face. a tattoo that shows up in the

upcoming movie "the hangover part ii." but it's not the ink on tyson but rather on that guy. >> this is a real tattoo! >> reporter: that's the center of controversy. the artist who says he created the original tattoo is now suing the movie producers warner brothers for copyright infringement. artist victor whitmill says his design is one of the most distinctive in the nation and when it was created, mr. tyson agreed mr. whitmill would own the artwork and, thus, the copyright. the lawsuit claims warner brothers pirated the tattoo. and that tattoo is not only central to the storyline of the movie, but it's also a big part of the movie's promotion. artist whitmill says he wants an injunction preventing the movie's release and whitmill says he's due an award of monetary damages sufficient to compensate for the injuries suffered. warner brothers' response? in a 149-page filing with the court, the movie's lawyers argue

an injunction just days before the national release on more than 7,000 screens would be devastating. tyson and his tattoo were in the first movie. and warner brothers says the artist never objected over the past two years to the use of tyson's tattoo in the first "hangover" movie. facial tattoos like this were first inked on maori warriors' faces centuries ago. legal experts say this lawsuit raises a new question. when is artwork on the body copyrighted? >> u.s. copyright law clearly protects works of art. specifically pictorial and graphic works. a tattoo falls into that category. >> reporter: the first "hangover" movie grossed more than 2$277 million. now, just a week away from release, it appears "the hangover part ii" could have a serious headache. kerry sanders, nbc news, miami. one more hollywood note.

the debut of "pirates of the caribbean: on stranger tides" broke worldwide box office records this weekend, taking in an estimated $346 million. when we come back here tonight, the end of an era as oprah says good-bye.

for 25 years, they have laughed with her and cried with her. this wednesday is sure to bring many more tears as oprah winfrey says good-bye to her fans. bringing her show to a close. tonight nbc's mara schiavocampo looks at how oprah touched the lives of so many. >> reporter: for sam scarpace, being a military wife meant moving often. but in every new city she found a familiar face. >> as a military wife, you spend a lot of time alone. and you can either get in trouble or you can figure out how to entertain yourself. my entertainment was oprah. >> reporter: every day scarpace would turn to the oprah winfrey show for friendship, comfort and guidance. a habit quickly picked up by her daughter.

>> it was an hour of tapping into pain that you didn't realize you had or helping you laugh about something that you didn't realize you needed a good laugh about. >> welcome to the very first national "oprah winfrey show"! >> reporter: for millions around the world, the last 25 years have been about so much more than just a television show. connecting with viewers in a deep and personal way. from her home base here in chicago, oprah was able to start a national dialogue about topics so many were uncomfortable with. like racism, homosexuality and painful personal struggles. >> this town has done every single one of my family wrong. >> reporter: she also opened up about her own life. from her struggle with her weight -- >> it's going to make me cry. >> reporter: -- to family secrets. creating iconic tv moments along the way. >> you get a car! you get a car! you get a car! you get a car! >> oprah winfrey embodies the last golden age of television

talk show hosts. >> it's time to say good-bye. >> reporter: last year when oprah announced her show was ending, sarah mccraw knew she had to be there. surprising her mom with tickets to a final taping. >> oh, my god! no! >> reporter: they went to chicago together, joining more than 10,000 others at the united center, including several celebrity friends. >> oprah has been an inspiration for all of us. >> i love oprah so much. >> reporter: oprah's not calling it quits. viewers can still find her on cable's oprah winfrey network. but their daily time together is coming to an end. >> there will be a void. because nothing -- the show was so special. there will never be another thing like it. >> reporter: a historic show built on a strong bond. >> my relationship with you is one that i hold very dear. >> reporter: one felt from both sides of the screen. mara schiavocampo, nbc news, chicago. that's "nbc nightly n"